1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for protecting harvested plant products, for example but not exclusively grapes, by removing the dissolved oxygen and maintaining the products in a controlled atmosphere having a specified composition, according to the preamble of the principal claim. The invention also relates to equipment for the application of the aforementioned method.
2. Related Art
It is known that oxygen dissolved in or in contact with plant substances, particularly liquids of plant origin, is a cause of alterations which are harmful to the preservation of the sensory qualities of the substances. These liquids are generally formed during the operations of harvesting the plant products, especially where such harvesting is carried out with mechanical means.
For example, but not exclusively, reference may be made to grapes, especially in cases in which they are harvested by mechanical means. When compared with conventional manual harvesting, the mechanical harvesting of grapes has considerable advantages in terms of economics and management, enabling the harvesting operations to be conducted at lower cost and in a shorter time.
On the other hand, the use of such a procedure is impeded by problems of degradation of the potential quality of the grapes harvested by this method, which inevitably results in the breaking of the fruits and the outflow of a product in a liquid state known as the must. Since some components of the must are oxidized by contact with the oxygen present in the air, the potential quality is decreased.
This is one factor which sets serious limits on mechanical harvesting methods in cases where the grapes are to be processed into high-quality wines.